A thought on Parshas Teruma
A Thought on Parshas Teruma
"v'no'ad'ti lecha sham...mi'bein shnei ha'keruvim..."
"and I will communicate to you there...from between the two cherubs..." (25:23)
The Mishkan, the holy shrine with which we traveled in the desert after the giving of the Torah, was the centralized place for the nation to receive the Divine word. Whereas a message from Above might come through the vision of a prophet, one of the stages within which the Divine Presence was experienced was that phenomenon described in our verse.
There was a spot which was fashioned in the form of winged cherubs, or keruvim. HaShem declared to us that there would be an intimate sense of His word which could be received in that spot.
The Rambam and the Rosh infer different lessons from our verse. The Rambam (Pirush al mesechta Rosh HaShanna 28b) notes that Moshe Rabbeinu differed from all other prophets. He apprehended the Divine word (the kol HaShem which we have described earlier) in a direct and clear manner, without the medium of altered states of vision, dreams or other changes in his consciousness. This is a principle which we assert in our faith doctrines and is described in the Torah itself. If so, reasons the Rambam, our verse's message was not a description of how Moshe would receive communication, but rather an explanation to Moshe as to how other prophets would experience the Divine word when they were chosen to do so in the times of the Mishkan. They would have their visionary sense more acutely in the spot between the two keruvim.
As for the rest of us, what lesson might we derive from this temporal function of those keruvim? Very interestingly, the Rambam elsewhere (Perakim B'Hatzlacha 1; Igeres Musar) finds a symbolic, spiritual message in the keruvim. "Your heart is the shrine which contains its own "covenantal ark" which holds its tablets of testimony. Hidden also within the ark of your heart as if etched on those tablets lies the capacity to sense the Divine. The heart beats with spiritual keruvim-wings to inspire you, to propel your essence higher and higher."
The Rosh also finds a mystical message within the image of the keruvim. He notes that the first letters of the three words, Mi' bein Shnei Ha'keruvim spell out the name Moshe. This signifies that Moshe on his own had the equivalent of that potential to receive prophecy. His personal capacity was like that which the other prophets could garner only by means of being in the keruvim zone. Moshe did not need a medium. He was his own "zone."
"Shnei Ha'keruvim" is the numerical equivalent (gematria) of Avraham, Yitzchak, v'Yakov. This reminds us that the reality of people living by and empowered through the dictates of the Divine Presence preceded the advent of a mishkan and keruvim. As we saw in the words of the Rambam above, the keruvim phenomenon was but one stage in a ten-stage saga involving the ways in which the Divine Presence has been manifest for us. The Avos long ago also apprehended the Divine word, before the era of the Mishkan.
Our verse closes by saying that from within that spot will be communicated "all that I will command you" - es kol asher atzaveh oscha. The Rosh writes that this has a gematria equivalent of Taryag Mitzovs. This reminds us that all of the prophetic instructions are in concert with the Written Torah. HaShem's words is steadfast and consistent. All of the lessons given to us by the prophets will be consistent with the 613 commandments.
Good Shabbos. D Fox
"v'no'ad'ti lecha sham...mi'bein shnei ha'keruvim..."
"and I will communicate to you there...from between the two cherubs..." (25:23)
The Mishkan, the holy shrine with which we traveled in the desert after the giving of the Torah, was the centralized place for the nation to receive the Divine word. Whereas a message from Above might come through the vision of a prophet, one of the stages within which the Divine Presence was experienced was that phenomenon described in our verse.
There was a spot which was fashioned in the form of winged cherubs, or keruvim. HaShem declared to us that there would be an intimate sense of His word which could be received in that spot.
The Rambam and the Rosh infer different lessons from our verse. The Rambam (Pirush al mesechta Rosh HaShanna 28b) notes that Moshe Rabbeinu differed from all other prophets. He apprehended the Divine word (the kol HaShem which we have described earlier) in a direct and clear manner, without the medium of altered states of vision, dreams or other changes in his consciousness. This is a principle which we assert in our faith doctrines and is described in the Torah itself. If so, reasons the Rambam, our verse's message was not a description of how Moshe would receive communication, but rather an explanation to Moshe as to how other prophets would experience the Divine word when they were chosen to do so in the times of the Mishkan. They would have their visionary sense more acutely in the spot between the two keruvim.
As for the rest of us, what lesson might we derive from this temporal function of those keruvim? Very interestingly, the Rambam elsewhere (Perakim B'Hatzlacha 1; Igeres Musar) finds a symbolic, spiritual message in the keruvim. "Your heart is the shrine which contains its own "covenantal ark" which holds its tablets of testimony. Hidden also within the ark of your heart as if etched on those tablets lies the capacity to sense the Divine. The heart beats with spiritual keruvim-wings to inspire you, to propel your essence higher and higher."
The Rosh also finds a mystical message within the image of the keruvim. He notes that the first letters of the three words, Mi' bein Shnei Ha'keruvim spell out the name Moshe. This signifies that Moshe on his own had the equivalent of that potential to receive prophecy. His personal capacity was like that which the other prophets could garner only by means of being in the keruvim zone. Moshe did not need a medium. He was his own "zone."
"Shnei Ha'keruvim" is the numerical equivalent (gematria) of Avraham, Yitzchak, v'Yakov. This reminds us that the reality of people living by and empowered through the dictates of the Divine Presence preceded the advent of a mishkan and keruvim. As we saw in the words of the Rambam above, the keruvim phenomenon was but one stage in a ten-stage saga involving the ways in which the Divine Presence has been manifest for us. The Avos long ago also apprehended the Divine word, before the era of the Mishkan.
Our verse closes by saying that from within that spot will be communicated "all that I will command you" - es kol asher atzaveh oscha. The Rosh writes that this has a gematria equivalent of Taryag Mitzovs. This reminds us that all of the prophetic instructions are in concert with the Written Torah. HaShem's words is steadfast and consistent. All of the lessons given to us by the prophets will be consistent with the 613 commandments.
Good Shabbos. D Fox
posted by Rabbi Dr. Fox at 7:48 AM
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